I'm having a play around with virtual desktops and VGPUs, as we have a requirement for a few machines in this format. I've used Hyper-V for some time for servers and also RDS for remote access, but as we now have a need for better graphic performance I'm evaluating the options.

My test box is a Dell Precision T7610 with a Quadro K5000

I've had a look at remotefx, which so far has been a bit disappointing.

I want to have a look now at XenDesktop (I have no citrix experience) and can't work out what I actually need for a simple test of this.

I have a one server host - currently setup for hyper-v but may rebuild with XenServer if recommended for this test. I have downloaded a trial of XenDesktop but there seems to be a lot of different components - what's the absolute minimum I need to install to test 1 host 1 VM, 1 client?

If you want to use Hyper-V as the Hypervisor XD communicates with to provision desktops, then yes, you do need SCVMM. That's what provides the API for XD to communicate with H-V.

I think there's a misunderstanding of what XenDesktop is for you - it's not a "1 box" type of software. It's deployed in the same manner for 1 or 1,000 desktops, based on usage cases. It has to have its orchestration pieces and core components (which, btw, includes SQL Server, but in a test environment you can use SQL Server Express on the delivery controller). Without them, you can't use the system at all. The desktops are just the endgame, and have no impact at all on the actual architecture of the system.

I guess what I'm saying is, it's not just something you can install on a Windows 7 VM you spin up and call it good.

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In order to use Hyper-V, you have to have SCVMM. For VMware, you have to have vCenter. XenServer will work without any additional products (I can't speak to KVM, never tried it).

At bare minimum, you'll need two hosts - one for your servers and one for your VMs (you *MIGHT* be able to pull it off with one, but I wouldn't recommend trying to run VDAs on the same host as your servers). You can install all of the XenDesktop services on a single system for a test, but in a production environment they need to be somewhat broken up. So, from a bare minimum, you'll need a domain controller, a server to run XenDesktop (Delivery Controller, StoreFront, Licensing Server, MCS), and a small host to run Virtual Desktops from. If you're planning on using Provisioning Services, add another server VM for it.

That'll get you to a point where you can log into a virtual desktop, but then you need to figure out what you're going to do about roaming profiles, etc.

If you want to use Hyper-V as the Hypervisor XD communicates with to provision desktops, then yes, you do need SCVMM. That's what provides the API for XD to communicate with H-V.

I think there's a misunderstanding of what XenDesktop is for you - it's not a "1 box" type of software. It's deployed in the same manner for 1 or 1,000 desktops, based on usage cases. It has to have its orchestration pieces and core components (which, btw, includes SQL Server, but in a test environment you can use SQL Server Express on the delivery controller). Without them, you can't use the system at all. The desktops are just the endgame, and have no impact at all on the actual architecture of the system.

I guess what I'm saying is, it's not just something you can install on a Windows 7 VM you spin up and call it good.

Ah, that makes more sense! thanks for clarifying. I think I'll have a rethink on using XenDesktop for now, it's not going to be a large deployment at any stage so this might be overkill - I'm really only looking for options to utilize the vGPU over a remote connection.

Ah, that makes more sense! thanks for clarifying. I think I'll have a rethink on using XenDesktop for now, it's not going to be a large deployment at any stage so this might be overkill - I'm really only looking for options to utilize the vGPU over a remote connection.

Yeah - we're considered a very small deployment with 150 desktops. I definitely think it'd be overkill for what you're looking at doing. I'm sure there has to be another option out there for vGPU usage. I haven't personally used that feature in XenDesktop yet, as for our business model we don't need it, but I've heard it's pretty solid.

Hi CPHastings, yes I went through that same list when setting up the test box.

The basic setup is all there and the vGPU is used and recognised. The basic windows experience is fine, just some inconsistencies and poor performance from certain applications I've tested so far. One example google earth performance is pretty poor.

Hence why I'm looking at the options to see where the other products differ.

you could use your 1 xenserver host to test this with a NVidia Grid card, it'll take about 4 hours to get it all going, not too hard, just alot of next next next stuff, however you can rent a VM in the cloud with this functionality already if you just want to do that. i think amazon does it if i am not mistaken

Hi CPHastings, yes I went through that same list when setting up the test box.

The basic setup is all there and the vGPU is used and recognised. The basic windows experience is fine, just some inconsistencies and poor performance from certain applications I've tested so far. One example google earth performance is pretty poor.

Hence why I'm looking at the options to see where the other products differ.

I recommend waiting for Server 2016 if at all possible. Test out the TP2 if you want. I hear their implementation of GPU pass through works better than 2012R2.

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